Abstract
In vitro studies have demonstrated that fibronectin (FN) can deliver a mitogenic signal to quiescent human melanoma cells and that the alpha 5/beta 1-integrin receptor mediates this stimulus. In view of this finding we have analysed the in vivo expression of FN, and of ED-A and ED-B FN isoforms, in benign and malignant lesions of melanocyte origin. In the same specimens the expression of fibronectin integrin receptors was evaluated. The results demonstrate that, while detection of FN does not correlate with transformation and tumour progression, the expression of the two isoforms is associated with transformation and that only the ED-A variant is found in metastases. Integrin phenotyping disclosed that alpha 3/beta 1 expression is associated with tumour progression, alpha v/beta 3 is a marker of transformation, alpha 4 is rarely expressed and alpha 5 is expressed by about 50% and 30% of the primary and metastatic lesions respectively. Taken together, the results of this study demonstrate that transformation and tumour progression of the melanocyte lineage are associated with modulation of expression of FN isoforms and FN integrin receptors. Furthermore, the expression of alpha 5-integrin in a considerable percentage of primary and metastatic lesions indicates that FN may deliver a proliferative stimulus to melanoma cells in vivo.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 24 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $10.79 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Natali, P., Nicotra, M., Di Filippo, F. et al. Expression of fibronectin, fibronectin isoforms and integrin receptors in melanocytic lesions. Br J Cancer 71, 1243–1247 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1995.240
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1995.240
This article is cited by
-
Electrical Stimulation Increases Random Migration of Human Dermal Fibroblasts
Annals of Biomedical Engineering (2017)
-
The interaction between caveolin-1 and Rho-GTPases promotes metastasis by controlling the expression of alpha5-integrin and the activation of Src, Ras and Erk
Oncogene (2012)
-
Biomarkers: The Useful and the Not So Useful—An Assessment of Molecular Prognostic Markers for Cutaneous Melanoma
Journal of Investigative Dermatology (2010)
-
Fusion of tumour cells with bone marrow-derived cells: a unifying explanation for metastasis
Nature Reviews Cancer (2008)
-
The monoclonal antibody SM5-1 recognizes a fibronectin variant which is widely expressed in melanoma
BMC Cancer (2006)